WEBVTT 00:02:22.319 --> 00:02:26.240 Blessed be God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:02:30.719 --> 00:02:31.360 Amen. 00:02:32.159 --> 00:02:40.800 Almighty God, unto whom all hearts are open, all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid. 00:02:41.039 --> 00:02:46.400 Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit. 00:02:49.039 --> 00:02:54.159 And worthily magnify your holy name through Christ our Lord. 00:02:54.479 --> 00:02:55.120 Amen. 00:04:40.160 --> 00:04:41.600 Let us pray. 00:04:42.560 --> 00:04:49.680 O God, whose blessed Son made himself known to his disciples in the breaking of the bread. 00:04:50.160 --> 00:05:01.279 Open the eyes of our faith that we may behold him in all his redeeming work, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. 00:05:01.600 --> 00:05:02.079 Amen. 00:05:02.240 --> 00:05:04.160 Please be seated for the lessons. 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:14.800 I meant the children should come up for a sermon. 00:05:17.040 --> 00:05:18.319 I love you guys. 00:05:20.079 --> 00:05:22.720 Because I certainly have one prepared. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:28.240 That I spent a really long time on. 00:05:30.480 --> 00:05:30.800 Okay. 00:05:33.199 --> 00:05:34.319 Hi, y'all. 00:05:34.560 --> 00:05:36.160 Ooh, I get to sit with you this time. 00:05:36.240 --> 00:05:37.279 I'm not that big. 00:05:37.519 --> 00:05:38.000 Oh, good. 00:05:38.079 --> 00:05:39.759 You're coming up, thank you. 00:05:42.319 --> 00:05:46.720 So have any of you ever been in an argument with your parents? 00:05:50.879 --> 00:05:54.319 Have any of you ever felt like your parents are upset with you? 00:05:55.519 --> 00:05:56.800 Yeah, me too. 00:05:58.399 --> 00:05:59.600 Is that a fun feeling? 00:06:00.720 --> 00:06:01.040 No. 00:06:01.439 --> 00:06:02.879 I don't like it either. 00:06:04.000 --> 00:06:13.839 But you know, interestingly, in our story today, in the Jesus story that we're going to listen to, Jesus says some really interesting things that I think are hard to hear. 00:06:14.639 --> 00:06:22.720 Jesus says that conflict is actually sometimes really good for our relationships. 00:06:23.519 --> 00:06:32.879 He says sometimes we think that the goal is to never have any conflict and that everything should be super easy. 00:06:32.959 --> 00:06:42.240 In fact, some of us believe that what Easter means and what it means to be Christians is that things should be simple and easy and joyful all the time. 00:06:42.480 --> 00:06:46.639 And Jesus says, no, that's not actually the case. 00:06:46.959 --> 00:06:51.199 That sometimes we get in conflict with the people that we love. 00:06:51.680 --> 00:06:54.480 Sometimes they're disappointed in us. 00:06:54.879 --> 00:06:57.439 Sometimes we're disappointed in them. 00:06:59.120 --> 00:07:00.240 And guess what? 00:07:00.959 --> 00:07:04.240 Sometimes it's your parents that are wrong. 00:07:05.199 --> 00:07:07.600 Do they like to hear that when they've made a mistake? 00:07:08.240 --> 00:07:08.560 No. 00:07:09.360 --> 00:07:10.879 I sure don't like it. 00:07:12.319 --> 00:07:18.079 But part of what it means to be Christians is that we don't fear that. 00:07:18.639 --> 00:07:30.079 We say that in relationships of love and with our family, we stay in relationship, we don't give up, we be honest, and that conflict isn't always a bad thing. 00:07:30.240 --> 00:07:37.839 In fact, sometimes conflict is the holiest thing that can happen in a relationship. 00:07:38.079 --> 00:07:43.839 And so I want to tell you that it's okay sometimes to have that in your life. 00:07:43.920 --> 00:07:53.040 And if if you're feeling frustrated or angry, or you're feeling like you're disappointed in your parents or they're disappointed in you, that that's okay. 00:07:53.199 --> 00:07:54.720 That we can work through that. 00:07:54.879 --> 00:07:58.879 And that eventually that conflict goes away if you stick to it. 00:07:59.120 --> 00:07:59.439 Okay? 00:08:00.000 --> 00:08:00.319 Good. 00:08:00.480 --> 00:08:01.040 You're left. 00:08:01.199 --> 00:08:02.160 How'd I do it? 00:08:02.480 --> 00:08:04.240 Hey, all right. 00:08:04.639 --> 00:08:06.639 I worked on that all week. 00:08:07.360 --> 00:08:08.639 That was really good. 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:10.480 Don't tell Mike. 00:08:27.439 --> 00:08:34.159 Now Judah fell on her face and put ashes on her head, and stripped off the sackcloth she was wearing it. 00:08:34.320 --> 00:08:56.480 And just as it was being offered in the house of God in Jerusalem in the evening incense, Judah cried out to the Most High with a loud voice and said, Holy God of my ancestors, Sam to whom you gave in hand a sword for revenge on those foreigners and forced upon open a virgin's own for define a scripture. 00:08:58.639 --> 00:09:01.840 And desecrated her land into a disgrace. 00:09:02.320 --> 00:09:06.559 For you said it shall not be done, and yet they did it. 00:09:06.879 --> 00:09:43.919 In return, you gave up their labours for slaughter, and their bed, which was a shame of their deceitfulness with itself deceived, for blood, and struck down slaves with sovereigns and sovereignts on their sins, and who gave up their wives for women, and their daughters to captivity, and all their money to be divided among your beloved sons, who were zealous with the zeal for you, and found detestable the pollution of their blood, and called on you, the one who helps, O God my God, bear me also a widow. 00:09:44.559 --> 00:09:48.559 You and me have done the four things for those to come. 00:09:48.879 --> 00:09:52.559 Those in our hand have those yet to come conceived. 00:09:52.799 --> 00:10:05.440 And the things you divide have presented themselves and said, Look, here we are, for all your ways stand ready with your judgment, and your judgment is done through foreknowledge. 00:10:05.840 --> 00:10:23.440 Look, for the Assyrians greatly multiplied in power, exalted themselves through horse and rider, boasting in the might of their foot soldiers, and trusting in shoes and spear, and above the plane, and do not know you are the holy one of the crushed horse. 00:10:23.840 --> 00:10:30.000 Holy is your name, smite their strength with your power, and shatter their might in your wrath. 00:10:30.159 --> 00:10:42.000 For they intend to desecrate your sanctuary, and to pollute the tabernacle, the resting place of your glorious name, and to strike off with iron the horns of your altar. 00:10:42.240 --> 00:10:50.240 Look at their insolence and send your wrath upon their heads, and give my widow's hand strength for what I have conceived. 00:10:50.639 --> 00:11:00.960 Strike down the slave and the deceit of my lips, and even the ruler, the ruler with his attendant, crush their uprising with a feminine hand. 00:11:01.360 --> 00:11:19.919 For your might is not a number, nor your sovereignty of the strong, but you are the God of those that have held of no account, helper of the lonely, protector of the vulnerable, defender of those who have despaired, savior of those without hope. 00:11:20.080 --> 00:11:33.840 Yea, yea, the God of my ancestors, God of the heritage of Israel, sovereign of the heavens and earth, creator of the waters, majesty of all your creation, hearken to my prayer. 00:11:34.159 --> 00:11:51.039 Grant that my word and deceitfulness may yield trauma loans and put the stripes on those who against your covenant and against your sacred house and against Mount Zion and against the house that your children possess have devised cruelty. 00:11:51.279 --> 00:12:07.279 And as for the whole of your nation and every tribe, grant them the knowledge to know that you are God, the God of all power and might, and that there is no one who protects the people of Israel other than you, the word of the Lord. 00:12:30.639 --> 00:12:33.440 Why God do you reject all time? 00:12:38.240 --> 00:12:45.440 Remember your congregation you acquired before time that you redeem to be the tribe of your heritage. 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:52.639 Lift up your steps to the perpetual ruins. 00:12:58.080 --> 00:13:01.360 Your foes have roared within your meeting place. 00:13:05.039 --> 00:13:07.600 It was perceived like when they go up. 00:13:11.360 --> 00:13:14.559 And then it's carved work all together. 00:13:17.919 --> 00:13:20.799 They set your sanctuary on fire. 00:13:26.320 --> 00:13:29.840 They said within their hearts, We will crush them. 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:49.519 How how long, God, is the adversary to taunt? 00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:56.399 Why do you hold back your hand? 00:14:00.960 --> 00:14:04.480 Yet, God, my sovereign, is from before time. 00:17:30.160 --> 00:17:36.480 I have come to cast fire upon the earth, and would that it were already blazing. 00:17:36.720 --> 00:17:43.359 Now I have a baptism with which to be baptized, and how much pressure is closing in until it is completed. 00:17:43.839 --> 00:17:46.720 Do you all think that I have come to bring peace to the earth? 00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:49.200 No, I tell you, it is the contrary. 00:17:49.519 --> 00:17:50.400 Division. 00:17:50.640 --> 00:17:55.599 From now on, five in one home will be divided, three against two, and two against three. 00:17:55.759 --> 00:17:58.960 They will be divided, father against son. 00:17:59.359 --> 00:18:09.279 Son against father, mother against daughter, and daughter against mother, mother-in-law against her daughter-in-law, and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. 00:18:09.440 --> 00:18:12.079 This is the gospel of the Lord. 00:18:25.359 --> 00:18:32.880 May the words of my mouth and the meditation of our hearts be acceptable to you, O God, our Redeemer, in the name of the Father and Son, and Holy Spirit. 00:18:33.119 --> 00:18:33.759 Amen. 00:18:34.000 --> 00:18:35.119 Please be seated, friends. 00:18:35.200 --> 00:18:36.319 I'm gonna get some water. 00:18:36.559 --> 00:18:39.119 While I'm doing that, I just want to do a quick poll. 00:18:39.519 --> 00:18:42.000 How many of you, after I read that, were like, Amen? 00:18:42.319 --> 00:18:43.759 No, hallelujah. 00:18:46.559 --> 00:18:47.920 Hallelujah. 00:18:49.200 --> 00:18:54.160 What all of my friends get to read The Road to Emmaus today. 00:18:54.319 --> 00:18:56.079 Like, that's what they get to read. 00:18:56.240 --> 00:18:57.759 That's the classic reading. 00:18:58.000 --> 00:18:58.799 Not here at St. 00:18:58.960 --> 00:18:59.759 Thomas. 00:19:00.240 --> 00:19:01.039 Nope. 00:19:01.519 --> 00:19:02.559 Get Luke 12. 00:19:02.799 --> 00:19:09.599 I get we're gonna pit mothers against daughters and fathers against sons and daughter-in-law against mother-in-law. 00:19:09.839 --> 00:19:10.960 We get that one. 00:19:12.160 --> 00:19:26.720 You know, I was thinking writing a sermon that when we were in Costa Rica, uh we were learning Spanish, and they were uh trying to teach me that uh Abuela was trying to teach me how to remember certain words in Spanish. 00:19:26.880 --> 00:19:29.599 And the word for daughter-in-law, she said was nueva. 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:30.960 Nueva. 00:19:31.200 --> 00:19:32.720 And I was like, oh, how am I gonna remember this? 00:19:32.799 --> 00:19:36.240 And she said, well, for us, we say no era mi hija. 00:19:37.920 --> 00:19:40.160 Now, if you speak Spanish, it's a pun. 00:19:40.960 --> 00:19:44.160 No era mi hija is she's not my daughter. 00:19:45.920 --> 00:19:47.359 That's really funny. 00:19:47.599 --> 00:19:49.440 So listen, this is a tough one. 00:19:49.519 --> 00:19:50.480 This is a hard one. 00:19:50.559 --> 00:19:58.480 And you know, last week I said that as Easter people, we want to talk about what does it mean to be people of resurrection? 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:01.920 Like, the resurrection is not a singular event. 00:20:02.079 --> 00:20:03.039 It did happen. 00:20:03.200 --> 00:20:04.400 We believe that. 00:20:04.720 --> 00:20:08.240 And the implication is that we are resurrection people. 00:20:08.400 --> 00:20:12.720 We are living it as we learned in our education class. 00:20:12.960 --> 00:20:16.000 And I said that part of that is renewal. 00:20:16.240 --> 00:20:21.119 It means that we look at parts of our life and we think about what it means to renew. 00:20:21.519 --> 00:20:23.680 And last week I talked about desire. 00:20:24.000 --> 00:20:28.480 And this week, what came apparent to me is relationships. 00:20:29.279 --> 00:20:35.519 That part of what it means to be living the resurrection is how are we in relationships of renewal? 00:20:35.759 --> 00:20:40.960 Looking at our close, in particular, relationships, like in particularly the close ones around us. 00:20:41.039 --> 00:20:45.920 And I will tell you, what I'm gonna say today might be the hardest sermon than I preached since I've been here. 00:20:46.400 --> 00:20:47.039 For you. 00:20:47.200 --> 00:20:51.440 I mean, for me, I mean it's super, super hard for me to go to this place as well. 00:20:51.599 --> 00:20:56.960 But but what I mean is to hear what I what I'm having to say is not a small or easy thing. 00:20:57.200 --> 00:20:58.960 So I'm just warning you. 00:21:00.079 --> 00:21:03.920 And to start, I I wanted to I wanted to start at the beginning. 00:21:04.079 --> 00:21:11.359 I so there's this fancy term called theological uh anthropology. 00:21:12.480 --> 00:21:17.759 So we have what's called as Christians a theological anthropology. 00:21:18.160 --> 00:21:24.000 So anthropology, anthropost, logos talk about what it means to be a human. 00:21:24.160 --> 00:21:25.920 That's what anthropologists do. 00:21:26.000 --> 00:21:30.000 They study the reality of what it means to be a human and cultures and such. 00:21:30.319 --> 00:21:35.519 As Christians, we take certain assumptions for granted about anthropology. 00:21:35.680 --> 00:21:37.200 We have a theological one. 00:21:37.680 --> 00:21:44.640 These are what philosophers were called a priori statements, things that are always and everywhere true for everybody. 00:21:44.799 --> 00:21:46.480 There are no exceptions. 00:21:46.720 --> 00:21:51.200 The first that we say is that we are all made in the image and likeness of God. 00:21:51.759 --> 00:21:59.759 That part of the Judeo Christian tradition, or the Christian tradition in particular, I can speak for that one, is that we believe every single person is made. 00:22:00.240 --> 00:22:02.000 In the image of likeness of God. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:06.160 Now, I don't like that, but it's true. 00:22:06.400 --> 00:22:17.519 I would like to think that people who disagree with me, particularly on really important issues, or people who behave in a certain way, that they're not made in the image of God, so I'm allowed to treat them as if they weren't. 00:22:17.759 --> 00:22:19.119 And we all do that, right? 00:22:19.279 --> 00:22:27.119 This is really hard to believe that every single person, I would argue every part of creation, but every single person. 00:22:27.359 --> 00:22:29.359 But the good news is so am I. 00:22:29.599 --> 00:22:33.200 So I get to treat myself as if I was made in the image of God. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:37.839 That we take this as a base statement and belief about every human being. 00:22:38.000 --> 00:22:38.319 Okay. 00:22:38.880 --> 00:22:48.799 Another anthropology that we have based on being made in the image of God is that we were made for relationships. 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:59.359 So if we believe that the God underneath all things is inherently relationship, Father, Son, Holy Spirit. 00:22:59.519 --> 00:23:05.440 It's part and parcel of who God is, then that means it's part and parcel of who we are. 00:23:05.839 --> 00:23:08.559 So we were made for relationships. 00:23:08.720 --> 00:23:13.200 And not any kind of relationship, a relationship of giving and receiving. 00:23:13.359 --> 00:23:18.240 We say perfect giving and receiving of love, a dynamic relationship. 00:23:18.640 --> 00:23:19.599 And we know this. 00:23:19.759 --> 00:23:26.480 We know that if you leave little babies unattended, where they have no love and affection, they have no relationship, they die. 00:23:27.039 --> 00:23:32.160 Like we know that all of us need to be in relationship for our own existence. 00:23:32.319 --> 00:23:36.160 We have been formed by the relationships of our life. 00:23:36.799 --> 00:23:40.720 I do not exist apart from all of the relationships that I've had in my life. 00:23:40.799 --> 00:23:42.400 It's part of who I am. 00:23:43.440 --> 00:23:48.000 So we're made in the image of God and we're made in relationship. 00:23:48.240 --> 00:23:49.759 And then we have this doctrine. 00:23:49.839 --> 00:23:55.359 I'm not going to go into it too much, but we say that sin has entered the world. 00:23:55.599 --> 00:23:57.599 Sin is not a behavior. 00:23:58.720 --> 00:24:04.079 I mean, there are behaviors as a result of it, but it's not at its core a behavior. 00:24:04.160 --> 00:24:05.440 It's a condition. 00:24:06.480 --> 00:24:10.640 Which means that it's not working the way it was designed. 00:24:10.880 --> 00:24:14.960 I'm not working the way I was designed as made in the image of God. 00:24:15.279 --> 00:24:24.160 My relationships aren't functioning the way that they were designed in the image and likeness of God, giving and receiving of love. 00:24:24.960 --> 00:24:26.880 So this is the story that we tell. 00:24:26.960 --> 00:24:43.200 So it would make sense that if we are resurrection people, if we are trying to live into the resurrection and renew, then perhaps we take a look at our relationships because they might need renewing. 00:24:43.759 --> 00:24:44.079 Okay. 00:24:45.759 --> 00:24:52.640 So to do that, looking at the story, I thought, well, first we gotta get this fire bit out of the way. 00:24:52.880 --> 00:24:53.440 Right. 00:24:53.759 --> 00:24:59.200 We've got to address this beginning where Jesus said, I am gonna cast fire down upon the earth. 00:24:59.519 --> 00:25:08.240 Now, if you're like me, the first thing you think of when you think of the fire is punishment. 00:25:08.480 --> 00:25:09.599 Thank you, Dante. 00:25:09.680 --> 00:25:11.440 I appreciate you and your inferno. 00:25:11.599 --> 00:25:19.680 Since Dante, and probably before that, but especially since Dante, we have this image of fire as being punitive. 00:25:19.920 --> 00:25:26.000 The land of the devil, the place with the pitchforks and the horns where you go for endless torment. 00:25:26.480 --> 00:25:27.599 The fires of hell. 00:25:27.759 --> 00:25:29.440 Save me from the fire of hell. 00:25:29.599 --> 00:25:42.960 But fire has been sort of a punitive, violent, I'm gonna get you metaphor, but that's not what I think is the most accurate or original understanding in the Jewish and Judeo-Christian tradition. 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:51.200 The fire has been a representation of the purifying presence of God. 00:25:51.359 --> 00:25:54.319 Remember, God showed up as a pillar of fire. 00:25:55.920 --> 00:26:06.000 So fire is about purifying, it's about letting the dross fall away so that the realness can come out. 00:26:06.319 --> 00:26:14.880 And yes, I will tell you that when I have encountered the difficult truths of my life, it has kind of felt a little bit like burning. 00:26:15.039 --> 00:26:17.680 It was not easy, it was not super pleasant. 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:21.119 Am I the only one who like chokes up apologies? 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:25.440 Who has to come to grips with my imperfections? 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:32.799 I mean, when I have to come face to face with that, it does feel like something is being burned away. 00:26:33.200 --> 00:26:34.799 It's not always pleasant. 00:26:34.880 --> 00:26:40.400 So fire can show up as the unpleasant reality of confronting God. 00:26:40.480 --> 00:26:43.200 And in fact, I think there's scriptural evidence. 00:26:43.440 --> 00:26:57.839 So there's some good scholarship around Jesus' Beatitudes, the Sermon on the Mount and Matthew 5, where when Jesus says, You are the salt of the earth, you know, we're all famous with that one, you are the salt of the earth, the light of the world. 00:26:58.079 --> 00:27:05.119 You see, even now, but for much of first century Near East Palestine in that culture, they they had these ovens. 00:27:05.200 --> 00:27:07.039 They had different kinds of ovens. 00:27:07.519 --> 00:27:11.279 And one of the ovens was like an earthen oven that they built out of the ground. 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:13.119 It was literally affixed to the ground. 00:27:13.200 --> 00:27:17.279 It was about three feet high, kind of like a little tiny pizza oven in some ways. 00:27:17.519 --> 00:27:22.799 And then they would, you know, bread would be made here, different things would be cooked. 00:27:22.880 --> 00:27:24.480 I mean, different things would be fired. 00:27:24.640 --> 00:27:28.720 And the fuel that they used was not wood. 00:27:29.759 --> 00:27:31.599 Because wood was expensive. 00:27:31.839 --> 00:27:54.160 Like, why would you use wood when you can have, you know, the young ladies go and collect camel dung and put salt in it and make patties and hang them out to dry, and then you take a big block of salt as a catalyst, my chemists know this, and you put it in the bottom of the oven, and then you throw the dung, the salt dung dried out, and you light it, and that's the fire. 00:27:54.319 --> 00:27:56.079 That's the fuel source. 00:27:57.039 --> 00:28:05.039 So when Jesus says you are the salt of that earth, that earth and Vensa, they would they some people say you they would refer to that as the earth, that type of oven. 00:28:05.279 --> 00:28:13.359 What they're saying is like you, me, us, we're the catalyst that allows the fire to continue to burn in the world. 00:28:13.599 --> 00:28:16.720 And what good is salt if it can't be a catalyst? 00:28:16.799 --> 00:28:22.559 You just throw it out and trample it under feet because at some point you needed to redo the salt because it stopped being effective. 00:28:22.720 --> 00:28:27.039 So in one place, Jesus says, You are the salt of the earth. 00:28:27.359 --> 00:28:29.279 I am the salt of the earth. 00:28:29.440 --> 00:28:36.079 So when I hear, I will cast fire down upon the earth, sounds to me a lot like Pentecost. 00:28:39.359 --> 00:28:45.680 I'm gonna send my Holy Spirit, oh by the way, represented in fire. 00:28:47.519 --> 00:28:58.160 And we are gonna be the catalyst that allows the Holy Spirit to continue to move and burn and be present in the world, helping melt away the dross, right? 00:28:59.519 --> 00:29:03.599 So right there, Jesus is not saying, oh man, I can't wait to punish everybody. 00:29:03.680 --> 00:29:16.160 He's saying the movement is happening, and I can't wait for the Spirit to be sent down, but I have a baptism, I have my work to do, but then we as the salt, the fire is gonna come down and we are gonna continue the work. 00:29:16.640 --> 00:29:19.279 That's what it means to be resurrection people. 00:29:19.519 --> 00:29:26.079 Ones out in the world continuing the work of all things being made new, living that. 00:29:27.759 --> 00:29:45.839 Now, unfortunately, now unfortunately, as great as that is, and as wonderful as that is, am I the only one who, when I started realizing I was made in the image of God and I wanted to become somebody different? 00:29:46.000 --> 00:29:53.200 Like I got this beautiful image of who I could become as a father and as a son and as a parent and as a friend. 00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:55.440 And I started moving towards that. 00:29:55.599 --> 00:29:59.359 I started allowing that beautiful purifying fire to come away. 00:29:59.519 --> 00:30:05.119 Am I the only one whose close relationships didn't really like it? 00:30:07.759 --> 00:30:08.720 I know I'm not. 00:30:08.880 --> 00:30:12.400 Thank you, Jim, for laughing because he's like, oh, I've ministry for a long time. 00:30:12.559 --> 00:30:14.799 Yes, because this is the story, people. 00:30:15.440 --> 00:30:21.119 In fact, there is an entire pedagogy of counseling theory on this. 00:30:21.279 --> 00:30:24.559 It's called Bowen Family Systems Theory. 00:30:24.720 --> 00:30:27.200 Anybody familiar with Bowen family systems theory? 00:30:27.440 --> 00:30:29.359 I highly recommend it. 00:30:30.559 --> 00:30:35.920 What it basically says is that we are people of story, just like Christians. 00:30:36.000 --> 00:30:39.519 This isn't a Christian theory, this is just a psychological theory. 00:30:39.920 --> 00:30:54.079 We are people of story formed by our relationships, and that our close relationships of family and friends, especially your ones from your childhood but current ones, right, are one big emotional unit. 00:30:54.240 --> 00:30:57.039 It's one big emotional thing. 00:30:57.599 --> 00:30:58.240 Right? 00:30:59.039 --> 00:31:01.759 And that we like our dysfunction. 00:31:02.000 --> 00:31:05.599 I tell people our family puts the fun in dysfunction, baby. 00:31:05.759 --> 00:31:06.400 Boy. 00:31:07.039 --> 00:31:09.759 Boy, you know, growing up, you wanted to come to my house. 00:31:09.839 --> 00:31:10.799 Hi, mom, love you. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:11.839 She's watching. 00:31:12.079 --> 00:31:13.359 But it's true. 00:31:13.680 --> 00:31:15.839 We put the fun in dysfunction. 00:31:16.319 --> 00:31:22.319 But the truth is, when somebody decides to want to get healthy, right, the system doesn't always like it. 00:31:22.480 --> 00:31:24.480 The system likes to pull you back in. 00:31:24.720 --> 00:31:34.480 So if you say, you know, I am not gonna operate in the way that I have been, I'm not gonna take that phone call, I'm not gonna laugh at that joke, I'm not gonna have one more drink, right? 00:31:34.640 --> 00:31:38.720 I'm not gonna show up to this, I'm not gonna participate in that conversation. 00:31:38.880 --> 00:31:50.480 In fact, I'm actually gonna tell folks that I disagree with their geopolitical politics or whatever it is, or I don't like their opinion on things, or the way that we've always done it is no longer how I want to do it. 00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:53.839 Because it's not where I feel God is calling me to be. 00:31:54.079 --> 00:31:59.279 Murray Butwyn would say that the system doesn't go, oh, awesome. 00:32:00.240 --> 00:32:02.960 Awesome! Let's support you in doing that. 00:32:03.119 --> 00:32:09.440 The system says no, and it tries to pull you back into your dis-ease and your dysfunction. 00:32:09.759 --> 00:32:11.839 Because systems don't like change. 00:32:11.920 --> 00:32:15.279 I know I'm not the only one who knows what I'm talking about. 00:32:17.039 --> 00:32:23.759 And so what Murray would say is that the only thing we can do is stay differentiated. 00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:30.319 It's not fix everybody else, which is why I like this as an Easter message. 00:32:31.920 --> 00:32:37.839 Easter isn't about saying, man, and well, early on, this was how I operated, so it's kind of a joke to me. 00:32:37.920 --> 00:32:44.640 But Easter is not about saying, I have seen the light, the resurrection, and I can't wait to change all of you. 00:32:46.480 --> 00:32:50.720 My sister once said, Sean, you're the same jerk you were, it's just now you stand behind Jesus. 00:32:50.799 --> 00:32:51.519 I don't get it. 00:32:54.240 --> 00:32:55.039 She did. 00:32:55.599 --> 00:32:57.119 You did, she's a therapist. 00:32:57.359 --> 00:32:58.400 You're the same jerk. 00:32:58.559 --> 00:32:59.519 You just stand behind Jesus. 00:32:59.759 --> 00:33:01.920 We do, like, there's a way for us to think, I've seen the light. 00:33:02.000 --> 00:33:03.680 My job is to fix all of you. 00:33:03.920 --> 00:33:12.319 No, what what Murray Bowen says is that I see who I want to be, the values I want to guide in my life, and I start living like that. 00:33:12.720 --> 00:33:17.279 And here's the kicker: I have to stay connected. 00:33:17.599 --> 00:33:24.240 He says the only way healing happens in transformation in our lives is when we stay connected. 00:33:24.559 --> 00:33:29.119 Now that might mean we have to have real clear boundaries. 00:33:29.440 --> 00:33:31.440 I'm not going to answer the phone past 7 o'clock. 00:33:31.519 --> 00:33:33.039 I'm not going to come home for Christmas. 00:33:33.200 --> 00:33:34.559 It may be that you know what? 00:33:34.720 --> 00:33:38.480 We can't talk right now, and I'll send you a letter or a text once a year. 00:33:38.799 --> 00:33:42.319 We said we act in our own integrity. 00:33:42.559 --> 00:33:44.880 We live by the values that guide us. 00:33:45.039 --> 00:33:50.480 We start running as fast as we can or slow as we can to become the person that we want. 00:33:51.039 --> 00:33:55.279 And then when the conflict happens, we stay differentiated. 00:33:55.359 --> 00:34:00.480 We don't try to change, and then the system eventually will move and change. 00:34:02.000 --> 00:34:04.240 That's what the theory says. 00:34:05.680 --> 00:34:08.639 I've experienced it in my own life, right? 00:34:09.199 --> 00:34:10.320 So I like it. 00:34:10.480 --> 00:34:13.679 Now, you might not, you might find this ridiculous. 00:34:14.000 --> 00:34:29.760 But what I know is that Jesus seems to be pretty clear in today's reading that if we're going to be Easter people, we have to attend to the close familial relationships that we have. 00:34:30.079 --> 00:34:46.800 And if we think that Easter is all about bunnies and unicorns and candy, and boy, it's all good, and God has blessed me, and this sure is easy and wonderful, then we're missing the extremely hard reality of the fire. 00:34:48.320 --> 00:34:54.000 That the Holy Spirit is empowering us towards growth and health and life. 00:34:55.119 --> 00:34:57.599 Not numbed friendship. 00:35:00.800 --> 00:35:04.800 And so I want to hold so somebody said, Sean, you should do it too long, didn't listen. 00:35:04.880 --> 00:35:05.840 A T L D L. 00:35:07.679 --> 00:35:08.880 Here's the summary. 00:35:09.039 --> 00:35:15.280 My friends, all of us are made beautifully in the image of God for the sake of relationship. 00:35:15.679 --> 00:35:18.960 And our relationships are infected with sin, just like me. 00:35:19.119 --> 00:35:19.679 They're broken. 00:35:19.760 --> 00:35:22.320 They're not operating the way that they should. 00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:23.840 That's nobody's fault. 00:35:23.920 --> 00:35:27.519 I mean, this is the sin that has been visited on everybody else, right? 00:35:27.760 --> 00:35:32.079 My parents had parents, and their parents had parents, and their parents had parents, and their parents had parents. 00:35:32.239 --> 00:35:35.039 And all of us are in complicated relationships. 00:35:35.280 --> 00:35:40.079 And part of what it means to be a resurrection person is to take a hard look. 00:35:40.320 --> 00:35:41.840 Are they functioning, right? 00:35:42.000 --> 00:35:44.320 The way that I think God is asking. 00:35:45.039 --> 00:35:51.360 And if they're not, and I suspect they aren't, we differentiate and we say, who do I want to be? 00:35:51.519 --> 00:35:56.159 How do I live consistent with my values while staying connected? 00:35:56.480 --> 00:36:01.679 Because the Holy Spirit is at work, moving and burning, and the hope. 00:36:01.840 --> 00:36:04.239 See, we Jesus quoted Micah 7. 00:36:04.559 --> 00:36:08.559 So the father against son, mother against daughter, that's actually a quote. 00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:12.079 That's why it's separated and the formatting is different. 00:36:12.239 --> 00:36:13.920 He's quoting Micah 7. 00:36:14.239 --> 00:36:24.719 And Micah is a prophet who is in exile and he's saying, Oh my gosh, everything is horrible, but it ends with, but you, Lord, I put my trust in to renew all things. 00:36:25.039 --> 00:36:38.320 So what Jesus is saying is, is we we enter into the difficult differentiated part, and it's going to cause conflict, and it's going to be difficult, and not everybody is going to be happy and excited that you no longer want to behave in the same way that you used to behave. 00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:41.039 But God is at work. 00:36:43.199 --> 00:36:44.719 God is renewing all things. 00:36:44.880 --> 00:36:46.159 The Holy Spirit is real. 00:36:46.239 --> 00:36:50.000 So if we take our place there, then resurrection is coming. 00:36:50.239 --> 00:36:52.000 The new thing is coming. 00:36:52.159 --> 00:36:56.800 And I know that's hard to believe because, I mean, for some of us, it may not happen until after we die. 00:36:56.960 --> 00:37:02.800 There are plenty of stories of relationships, right, that don't ever feel like they've been healed in this life. 00:37:04.480 --> 00:37:05.519 That's just true. 00:37:05.760 --> 00:37:07.599 I have that, I'm sure you have that. 00:37:07.760 --> 00:37:10.639 But we hold out hope together that it's possible. 00:37:10.880 --> 00:37:16.159 We draw our boundaries, we keep ourselves safe, we do not enter into unsafe relationships. 00:37:16.400 --> 00:37:18.719 Hear me say that very quickly. 00:37:18.960 --> 00:37:22.079 And we trust that God is making all things new. 00:37:22.880 --> 00:37:29.679 So, my friends, I challenge myself and I challenge all of us to leave here and renew our relationships. 00:37:29.840 --> 00:37:30.639 Take a hard look. 00:37:30.880 --> 00:37:32.800 Where are they not functioning? 00:37:33.280 --> 00:37:38.800 Where am I behaving or in a dynamic that is no longer giving me life and is unhealthy? 00:37:40.079 --> 00:37:41.920 How do I need to be different? 00:37:42.239 --> 00:37:44.079 And take that place. 00:37:45.199 --> 00:37:46.400 It's gonna be hard. 00:37:46.800 --> 00:37:48.239 But trust that God is at work. 00:37:48.960 --> 00:37:50.800 And if you need some help, send me a text. 00:37:51.199 --> 00:37:52.000 I'll get you there.